Time Not Right for Excavation of Tang TombCheng Andong, governor of Shaanxi Province, and a number of local deputies submitted a bill to the annual session of the National People's Congress hoping that the central government would approve their application for the excavation of the Qianling Mausoleum, China Daily reported on April 10.According to Cheng, by opening up the mausoleum, Shaanxi will be able to build four cultural tourism parks of Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang dynasties to boost local tourism. But since the days of late Premier Zhou Enlai, the State Council has stood firm on the ground that the time has not come for the excavation. According to a 1997 State Council decree, the central government will not approve of any excavation of mausoleums of major emperors in the foreseeable future. Leading archaeologists Xu Pingfang and Huang Jinglue have repeatedly warned that endless damage would incur if people, in pursuit of the immediate economic benefits, start excavation on the mausoleum without sound technologies for protection. |
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